Marshall Might Give Japan a Try

A part-time employee for the champions of the American League East, Mike Marshall might look for a job even farther east.

Relegated to pinch-hitting with the Boston Red Sox, the former Dodger says he might follow the route explored by Cecil Fielder, who used a year in Japan to revive his career in the United States.

“If something doesn’t work out for me (in the big leagues) in the next year or two, I’m thinking about going to Japan for a couple years,” said Marshall, who requested a trade from the New York Mets earlier this season when he was replaced at first base by Dave Magadan. “I’ve got to play. I’ve got to get my confidence and skills back, and I’d still be young enough to come back and make an impact.

“I’m like Fielder in that I’m the perfect player for Japan (being a power hitter), and I think it would be interesting. Besides, if I didn’t do well I wouldn’t know if I was being ridiculed because I don’t speak or read Japanese.”

Marshall has felt the jabs of teammates and media because of frequent absences from the lineup. In Los Angeles, he fought with Phil Garner and nearly fought with Pedro Guerrero.

His once-promising career is measured more in terms of skepticism than statistics.

“From the time I started playing I always believed my teammates were sacred,” Marshall said Monday as the Red Sox prepared for today’s Game 3 of the AL playoffs.

“I never said anything negative about another player or questioned his ability to play, but the media (in Los Angeles) had to be getting that . . . from somewhere, and it was coming from the same people who ran to the bank to cash their checks when Gibby (Kirk Gibson) limped to the plate to hit that home run (in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series), the same people who then turned around and questioned why he wasn’t playing last year.

“I mean, here’s a guy who may have shortened his career by playing hurt in the playoff with the Mets that year, then he gets second-guessed for not playing. It’s the perfect example of ‘What have you done for me lately?’

“There’s not much you can do about it, and I’m obviously not the only guy it’s happened to.”

Marshall is 30, but it’s as if he misplaced his prime in the trainer’s room.

He has been on the disabled list seven times since 1984. Over the last five years, he has missed 271 games, the equivalent of more than 1 1/2 seasons. In 1984, he had 20 home runs and 82 runs batted in in 144 games with the Dodgers, but that was the only season in the last five in which he played more than 105 games.

He opened this season as the Mets’ first baseman, but he is closing it as nearly a forgotten figure with the Red Sox. He appeared in 83 games during the regular season, hitting 10 home runs and driving in 39. He last started Sept. 17. In two pinch-hit appearances in the playoffs, he flied out against Bob Welch and singled off Dave Stewart.

The Red Sox acquired Marshall from the Mets for three minor league players July 28. At the time, he was on the disabled list, sidelined by an inflamed intestine 12 days earlier.

“My blood count was down and I was bleeding internally,” he said. “I went in to see the manager (Bud Harrelson), and he didn’t believe me because of all that went on with my back in Los Angeles.

“He said if I didn’t want to play I might as well go home because he was going to suspend me. The next day I was in the hospital.”

The Dodgers had traded Marshall to the Mets for Juan Samuel in December. Marshall said he had asked the Mets to trade him before he became ill.

“I enjoyed New York. I liked Buddy and Dave (Johnson) and the organization took great care of its players, but I wasn’t playing and asked to be traded.

“I mean, you could go down the list of guys who weren’t happy and wanted to be traded, but I say it and everyone wants to make a big deal out of it, like I’m hurting the club because I want to play.

“The irony is that they had a lot of problems with left-handed pitching, and I could have helped out. Now Darryl (Strawberry) may leave, and I could have been the right fielder.”

With the Red Sox, Marshall said he understands his role, for the present.

“I love it here, but I don’t plan on being back,” he said. “I was brought over as insurance, and I’m the perfect player for that because I can back up at first base, right field and DH. Joe (Morgan, the manager) got me a 100 or so at-bats as soon as I got here, and now he’s going with the lineup he used most of the season.

“I have no problem with that. I’m not going to make waves, but I think if the organization decides that I’m not an everyday player they’ll trade me because I’m not the type to come off the bench.

“I’m 30. I’ve resolved my back problems and I need a place to play. If I get a chance to play every day I can put big numbers up again because I’m now healthy.”

Marshall has one year left on a three-year, $3-million contract he signed with the Dodgers before the 1989 season. A player traded with a multiyear contract can demand that his new club trade him, but there are technicalities involved in the Marshall case that may eliminate that right.

The Red Sox situation is cloudy. Before Tom Brunansky’s recent surge, it appeared the club would let him leave as a free agent, enhancing Marshall’s desire to play regularly. Brunansky, however, has been such a pivotal force lately the Red Sox might be forced to meet his price.

A recurring back strain is the one ailment that has sidelined Marshall most frequently.

“I was able to do so much when I was healthy that I was reluctant to play and risk becoming less than a complete player when I wasn’t healthy,” he said. “For a long time I went with the assumption that a day or two off or an injection now and then was the answer, and I missed a lot of games because I wasn’t really dealing with the problem. I finally went to a program of total rehabilitation where I’m in the weight room every day, and I feel great now. I’m convinced I can play every day.

“I know if I had played 140 games a year I’d still be in Los Angeles, but I didn’t and I have to start over again.”

Marshall said he had only good feelings about his 12 years in the Dodger organization; that Manager Tom Lasorda consistently showed faith; that, although media reaction was rough at times, he realizes that’s part of the territory.

“The thing to remember is that even just four or five years ago there weren’t a lot of guys talking about back problems,” he said. “Now every club has at least one guy who goes through it. Look at Jose Canseco, Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs. I mean, Dwight Evans has been out twice this year, but every time he’s in the on-deck circle he gets a standing ovation. I miss a game or two and I’m treated like a Communist.

“But I don’t want this to be a sob story. This is my fifth playoff. I’ve had so many good times and am so far ahead of the game that it’s not funny. I feel very fortunate.”